Most Florida clients search for this work as intensive therapy, couples therapy intensives, or marriage retreats, and that language fits the depth of the work. The exact structure depends on location, licensing, goals, and clinical fit. Some intensives are therapy; destination or cross-state formats may be structured as intensive coaching instead. We explain the scope clearly before scheduling. For clients who want ongoing weekly psychotherapy, our couples therapy and family therapy services in Florida are the right fit.
Who weekend intensives tend to fit
Intensives work well for specific kinds of couples and families and less well for others. They tend to fit people with real time constraints that make weekly work logistically hard — schedules that don't accommodate a consistent weekly hour, long-distance family configurations where everyone needs to be in one place to meet at all, or situations where waiting three months to make progress at a weekly pace isn't realistic.
They also fit couples who have done weekly therapy before and hit a plateau — partners who have made real progress but feel stuck on the same few patterns. The condensed format creates a different kind of momentum than weekly work does. It isn't a substitute for the sustained, incremental change weekly therapy produces, but it can break through specific impasses that weekly work has circled for months.
Intensives are not a good fit for acute crisis — active suicidal ideation, domestic violence, severe untreated mental illness, an affair disclosed in the last week, or untreated substance use. These situations need clinical therapy, often combined with individual care and sometimes higher levels of treatment. A good consultation call sorts out which format matches your situation, and we decline intensive requests we think would set a couple or family back rather than forward.
The three formats in Florida
In-home therapy intensives at your Florida residence
For Florida residents, in-home intensives mean the clinician travels to your home for a two- or three-day block when the format is appropriate. The advantages are real: the work happens in the space where the patterns actually play out, the family doesn't have to coordinate travel or childcare, and the sessions can flex around the realities of the household — mealtimes, a child's nap schedule, a grandparent's mobility. For families with young children or aging family members, this is often the only format that makes the intensive feasible at all.
In-home work requires some preparation. You need a private space in the home where sessions can happen without interruption. We walk through the practical setup on a consultation call before the intensive is scheduled, because the setting affects the work in ways worth thinking through together.
Marriage retreats and destination intensives
Some couples and families prefer to do the intensive during a trip they're already planning — a week in the Keys, a Destin beach rental, a Sanibel off-season week, 30A, an Orlando visit built around family logistics, or any destination that fits the family's style of travel. In this format, the clinician joins you at the location for two or three days of scheduled work, with the rest of the trip structured however you want it.
This format tends to work especially well for couples who find it easier to do hard relational work away from the pressures of their daily environment. Depending on the destination and scope, this may be structured as intensive coaching rather than licensure-bound psychotherapy. Florida couples often combine the intensive with a longer trip, and non-Florida couples traveling to Florida for a retreat-style intensive can be a good fit too.
Online therapy intensives
For clients who prefer not to host the clinician at their home and don't want to build the intensive around a trip, the online format delivers the same structure over video — typically three to four longer sessions across two days, with built-in breaks for rest and for the couple or family to absorb the work between sessions. This is the most logistically simple option, and for many clients the online format produces work that is just as substantive as in-person. For other clients, the in-person formats add something video cannot, and that's part of the consultation conversation.
Our clinicians
All three of our Florida-registered clinicians run intensives. While each is a licensed therapist in clinical practice, the exact intensive scope may be therapy or coaching depending on location and goals. Fit depends on the presenting situation — a consultation call sorts out which clinician is the right match for your specific situation.
Shawn Weymouth, LMFT
Florida registration TPMF1963
Shawn's deep family-systems background is often a strong match for family intensives and for couples work with significant history. Read full bio
Cade Dopp, LCSW
Florida registration TPSW5567
Works with couples in intensive format, integrating CBT and ACT with attention to the whole-person dynamics that show up in relationships. Read full bio
Leanna Dopp, LCSW
Florida registration TPSW5595
Works with couples in intensive format, drawing on EFT and mindfulness-based approaches tailored to the condensed format. Read full bio
Logistics, fees, and what to expect
Intensive fees, availability, scheduling, travel logistics, and deposit structure vary by format and clinician. Intensives are custom and usually private-pay. Insurance coverage depends on whether the service is structured as therapy, whether the clinician is licensed in the relevant state, and what your plan covers; destination or coaching intensives are not billed to insurance. We walk through all of it on a free consultation call before anything is scheduled.
A few things to know up front: intensives generally require scheduling three to six weeks in advance; there is usually a preparation call and sometimes a preparatory individual conversation with each participant; and there is almost always a follow-up plan — usually a consolidation session two to four weeks after the intensive — because the work of an intensive doesn't end when the weekend does.
When you're ready
If you're considering an intensive for your couple or family, request a free consultation. We'll talk through which format fits your situation and whether an intensive is the right choice at all. For context, see our pages on couples therapy and family therapy in Florida, or return to the Florida practice page.